By David Oxenford on July 14, 2013 Posted in IndecencyThe deadline for reply comments on the FCC’s Indecency policy have been extended. These replies had been due on July 18. But a request from CBI, a collegiate broadcasters organization, asked for more time given the extensive initial comments filed in the proceeding and the fact that college broadcasters have difficulties in responding to issues over… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on June 9, 2013 Posted in IndecencyThe deadline for comments on the FCC’s indecency rules was extended until June 19, confirmed in a notice published in the Federal Register this past week. Given this extension, it is worth reviewing what the FCC proposed to do in this proceeding, as there is a significant amount of misinformation circulating in certain publications and in rumors floating… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on April 22, 2013 Posted in IndecencyWe recently wrote about the FCC’s request for comments on how to enforce its indecency policy, and how to deal with the backlog of hundreds of thousands of complaints pending at the FCC. The FCC has now set the dates for comments in this proceeding – with initial comments due on or before May 20, 2013.… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on April 3, 2013 Posted in IndecencyThe FCC’s indecency policy has been in limbo since last year’s Supreme Court decision determining that the Commission’s fines on broadcasters for fleeting expletives had not been adequately explained before being imposed. On Monday, the FCC took a step to clarifying that policy by asking for public comments on what it should do now. Should it formally… Continue Reading

By David Silverman on June 25, 2012 Posted in IndecencyAs you know by now, last week the U.S. Supreme Court found the FCC’s enforcement of its indecency policy unconstitutional in FCC v. Fox. As Bob Corn-Revere and Ronnie London described in our Advisory , this case concerned the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards shows televised by Fox as well as a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue… Continue Reading

By Ronald London on January 10, 2012 Posted in IndecencyThe Supreme Court heard oral argument today (Jan. 10, 2012) in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, which put squarely before the Court the constitutionality of the FCC’s current indecency enforcement regime. The case came to the Court from decisions by the Second Circuit, involving broadcasts of the Billboard Music Awards and NYPD Blue, which held… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on November 2, 2011 Posted in FCC Fines,IndecencyThe Third Circuit Court of Appeals today issued its decision in the case dealing with the FCC’s fine for the Janet Jackson "clothing malfunction" Super Bowl incident. The Court once again rejected the FCC decision - essentially upholding a 2008 decision that had found the FCC’s indecency fine to be an arbitrary departure from prior precedent. The Court found that… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on April 21, 2011 Posted in FCC Fines,IndecencyThe FCC’s indecency rules have, in recent months, twice been declared unconstitutional by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit – essentially finding that the FCC’s policies imposed unconstitutional restrictions on speech as they did not give broadcasters any way of determining what was permitted and what was prohibited. After seeking several extensions of… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on March 2, 2011 Posted in Indecency,License RenewalAs the next broadcast license renewal cycle is about to begin in June (see our post here about that process), the last renewal cycle still has not ended despite the fact that the last renewal application due in that cycle was to have been submitted almost 5 years ago. At the NAB State Leadership Conference held in… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on January 4, 2011 Posted in FCC Fines,IndecencyThe Second Circuit Court of Appeals today issued a Summary Order vacating the $27,500 FCC fines imposed on a number of ABC television network stations in the Central and Mountain time zones which had aired, prior to the 10 PM safe harbor, an episode of the television program NYPD Blue on which a woman’s bare… Continue Reading

By Brendan Holland on July 16, 2010 Posted in IndecencyAs we wrote earlier this week, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Tuesday struck down part of the FCC’s indecency rules, finding that the rules were too vague and had an undue chilling effect on broadcasters. DWT’s First Amendment experts have now taken a closer look at the Court’s decision in Fox… Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on July 13, 2010 Posted in IndecencyThe US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today struck down the FCC’s indecency rules, finding that the rules were so vague as to not put broadcasters on notice of what programming was prohibited and what was permitted. Today’s decision was reached following a remand of this case to the Second Circuit by the Supreme Court. … Continue Reading

By David Oxenford on September 29, 2009 Posted in FCC Fines,IndecencyIn the past several weeks, broadcast indecency has been back in the news – seemingly almost on a daily basis. First, there was the story about Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for Virginia governor who, seemingly inadvertently, dropped the f-bomb, perhaps as a result of tripping over his tongue during a news interview on a news radio station… Continue Reading

About David Oxenford

David Oxenford represents broadcasting and digital media companies in connection with
regulatory, transactional and intellectual property issues. He has represented broadcasters before the Federal Communications Commission, the courts and other government agencies for over 30 years. Continue Reading

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About

David is a partner at the law firm of Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, practicing out of its Washington, DC office. He has represented broadcasters for over 30 years on a wide array of matters from the negotiation and structuring of station purchase and sale agreements to regulatory matters. His regulatory expertise includes all areas of broadcast law including the FCC’s multiple ownership limitations, the political broadcasting rules, EEO policy, advertising issues, and other programming matters and FCC technical rules.